Lori Rosenkopf, PhD

About Lori

Lori Rosenkopf is the Simon and Midge Palley Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of Unstoppable Entrepreneurs: 7 Paths for Unleashing Successful Startups and Creating Value through Innovation (Wharton School Press, 2025). In her current role as vice dean of entrepreneurship, Professor Rosenkopf serves as the Wharton faculty director for Venture Lab and also as the faculty director for Wharton | San Francisco. Professor Rosenkopf earned her PhD in Management of Organizations from Columbia University after working as a systems engineer for Eastman Kodak and AT&T Bell Laboratories. Prior to that, Professor Rosenkopf earned her BS in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University and her MS in Operations Research from Stanford University.

Since joining the faculty in 1993, Professor Rosenkopf has been a dedicated educator, teaching a wide range of courses to undergraduates, MBA students, doctoral candidates, and participants in executive education and online programs. She was honored with the Hauck Award for distinguished teaching in the undergraduate program. From 2013 to 2019, Professor Rosenkopf served two terms as the vice dean and director of the Wharton Undergraduate Division. During her tenure, she introduced a new undergraduate curriculum, expanded alternative curricular and career pathways, and fostered an environment of broad access and opportunity for all students.

Professor Rosenkopf’s research examines technological communities and social networks across several high-tech industries. She analyzes how and when knowledge may flow between technical professionals and between firms, mapping these flows to estimate when people, firms, and technologies are likely to learn, move, and succeed. Her research has been published in leading journals including Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Management Science, Organization Science, and Strategic Management Journal. Professor Rosenkopf was named a fellow of the Academy of Management in 2023. She has served as a senior editor at Organization Science and as a consultant for the National Academy of Sciences, and she has been elected a member of the Macro-Organizational Behavior Society and also to a term as the chairperson of the Technology and Innovation Management Division of the Academy of Management.

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